Great, Non-Mainstream Bands to See After Pandemic – Pt 2: Daughters

Written by Zack Hargrove.

Genre: noise-rock, industrial, experimental

Attendant who will like the show: people who appreciate sincerity, human contact and enjoy unusual music.

Everything would make more sense if Nothing But Thieves and Daughters had switched their band names. If we were to explore NBT, we would see that in spite of their name, generally speaking they have nothing to do with something truly negative. The main words we would agree to describe them with are “rocky”, “melancholy” “softy” and “pleasant”. The ultimate phrase would sound something like “hey, we all fall in love every once in a while, let’s have some fun with music, shall we?”

Whereas in spite of Daughters’ feminine name, the most appropriate words to portray the essence of their body of work are “chaos”, “noise”, “acceptance”, “panic” and “horror”. And the ultimate phrase would be “I’m a little busy with holding an immoral, emotional, torment-feeding monster that I have in my life and mind right now.”

Daughters took their time and their very best efforts to write a good album. Although the studio pause lasted for 8 years, fans, as well as music critics described their “You Will Not Get What You Want” as their best work. In particular, internet’s busiest music nerd Antony Fontano is well-known for not giving positive reviews to both underground and popular records. However, even his take on the latest album by Daughters’ was one of the exceptions that he welcomed with complete admiration (review contains spoilers, so it is better to watch it after you hear the record).

Success of their record exceeded everyone’s expectations so much, that in a one-year span (2018-2019) Daughters had almost as many shows as they had in the first 15 years of their existence: 105 vs 110. But beside the quality of the album, the other supplementing feature that made them so desirable in the U.S., Europe and Australia was their performing manner.

Oftentimes Daughters play at small venues, which makes the atmosphere between the band more intimate and special. Daughters are pretty energetic, non-boring and certainly non-statue standing bands. Because of the low amount of security at their shows, they play extremely close to people. So, if you go to their concert and decide to watch it right in front of the stage – you are most likely going to have some sort of physical contact with band members.

Even if you are not a guitar geek you will appreciate a pedalboard of each of the band members, as they not only look incredibly cool, but create notable effects throughout each song.

In spite of the fact that some of them play almost like they are trying to hurt themselves with instruments, they do their work carefully and respectfully to their audience. For instance, their guitarist Nick Sadler has a habit to gradually tear the skin of his hand during maniac playing. His fingers often look like he was blindly replacing bike chains with pinky and back of his hand. Speedlight slides is one of his signature guitar licks. In one of his interviews Nick told Guitarguitar to about what it led to:

I used to get mild gangrene in my fret fingers from the relentless friction of playing this way, but I ended up discovering that Fast Fret, lemon oil, and changing string regularly helps to avoid the slow grinding down of my fingertips.

But the most unusual and memorable of the musicians of the group is definitely their front man Alexis S.F. Marshall. As you imagine Slash wearing his classic cylinder on his head, the same way fans of Daughters probably imagine Alexis with slightly damaged forehead, since he uses his microphone for not only vocal, but for licking, spitting and floor/wall/ceiling/his own head smashing purposes.

His vocal parts are not difficult, yet he has a good voice. Although he does fall in temptations to lose it in screaming and shouting, his sounds still perfectly combine with music and the whole atmosphere of the show.

Many people come to the same conclusion by calling him “a polite version of GG Allin.” The main reason for that is Alexis’ habit to get in the crowd and walk through it a lot to groom, entertain and make the listeners smile while he sings. Here is the short list of some of the things he can do:

· Hug a person
· Clear someone’s glasses
· Straighten someone’s tie or hat
· Pet someone’s on head or shoulder
· Do a wheel pose almost on top of someone
· Let an audience member to shove fingers in his mouth

So, if you go to their show and it won’t be insanely crowded – chances are he will walk in front of you. And if you don’t want him to touch you, unlike GG he will not bother you with an attempt to cause a conflict and will just cruise away instead.

In spite of having an image of chaotic and slightly unpredictable band, Daughters don’t cause any conflicts, scandals and fights at their shows. They always remain very respectful, play tight without hurting anyone and as a result – continue to gain popularity and gather new fans after 18 years of being on the map of the musical world. Their professionalism, live tenacity, talent and determination to not repeat themselves musically made Daughters a band that is in demand for every avid concertgoer.

P.S. If you are more of a hardcore punk listener, you might want to check out another Alexis’ project Fucking Invincible. Needless to say, they haven’t been active since 2017. But still they may surprise some of their underground fans with an EP and little tour once the lockdown is completely over.

About the Author: